Dan Henderson has now turned his focus to rehabilitating his knee after a partial tear to his ligament forced him to withdraw from UFC 151 this week.

“I appreciate the loyal support that I have felt from my fans,” he wrote today. “I want to thank all of my coaches and team of guys for the great support with my training camp.

“Most importantly, I appreciate their honesty when I needed them the most to make this very difficult decision.”

Henderson issued a formal statement on his Facebook page following today’s announcement that UFC 151 has been canceled outright due to his injury and light-heavyweight champ Jon Jones’ decision to decline a short-notice fight with recent middleweight challenger Chael Sonnen.

The injury to Henderson’s knee occurred in training for the fight, which was scheduled to headline the Sept. 1 pay-per-view card at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Sources close to the fighter told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that Henderson suffered a tear to his medial collateral ligament (MCL) several weeks ago and never recovered. UFC President Dana White said today that Henderson was checked out by a Las Vegas doctor after he was made aware of the injury. The fighter made his decision to withdraw after recently attempting to train.

Henderson, who clarified that his injury did not require surgery, stated that his decision was a matter of making sure he is his best in a high-stakes fight.

“I feel that I owe it to my fans and all the people supporting me to fight at my full potential in order to give myself a chance to win the UFC title,” Henderson stated.

Jones (16-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) now will fight Lyoto Machida (18-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) at UFC 152, which takes place Sept. 22 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. The two met in the same venue 10 months prior for UFC 140, and Jones won by choking out the ex-champ in the second round.

Sonnen and middleweight Chris Weidman were among those who volunteered to fight Jones at UFC 151.

White said he wasn’t sure whether Henderson (29-8 MMA, 6-2 UFC) will remain the No. 1 contender when he returns to full health and following Jones vs. Machida II.

Henderson, however, thanked the promotion for its support.

“I want to thank Dana and (UFC executive) Lorenzo (Fertitta) for being so understanding and supportive,” he wrote. “I will continue to pursue the UFC belt with all of my heart!”

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